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California Speedway
The Auto Club Speedway of Southern California (formerly California Speedway) http://www.dailybulletin.com/breakingnews/ci_8327058 Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, 2/21/2008. Retrieved 2/21/2008. is a two-mile (3 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to its "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. The Auto Club Speedway is the only track owned by International Speedway Corporation to have naming rights sold. History Construction and location The track is located on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill''Road & Track'' July 1994, About the Sport motorsports news column, Joe Rusz, page 192. It is a relatively new race track, opening in early 1997, and has additional configurations and facilities to accommodate road races, motorcycle races, vehicle testing, and drag races (Auto Club Dragway). The racetrack is near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. After Riverside's closure in 1988, Southern California did not host a NASCAR race until California Speedway was opened. In addition to NASCAR, the raceway has also hosted open-wheel events from both CART and the Indy Racing League. Like many modern oval tracks, Auto Club Speedway also features an infield road course, which has been used by the Grand American Road Racing Association and by the Japanese Grand Touring Car Championship, with the JGTC race being unique as a night race. The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series no longer races at Auto Club Speedway. The NASCAR West Series held its first race on the infield course, won by Jason Bowles. Notable events During the 1999 Marlboro 500 CART race, Canadian driver Greg Moore was killed in a crash along the backstretch of the track. It was determined that after sliding along the infield grass, Moore's car hit the edge of oncoming pavement, which caused the car to flip into a concrete retaining wall. This incident resulted in a major overhaul of the track, including the paving of the infield grass on the backstretch in time for the 2000 NASCAR event. On October 28, 2000, during CART qualifying, Gil de Ferran set the track record for fastest lap at . This was also a world speed record for the fastest lap of a closed course. On November 3, 2002, Jimmy Vasser won the final 500 mile race in CART/Champ Car (now defunct) history. The race also set the track record (at the time) for average race speed at . On September 21, 2003 during an IRL race, Sam Hornish, Jr. set the track record for fastest average speed during a race at . In 2005, 20 year old Kyle Busch earned his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Auto Club Speedway. From 2005 until June 28, 2009 Kyle Busch held the record for being the youngest driver in Sprint Cup to win a race, which he won a Auto Club Speedway. The record was taken over by 19 year old Joey Logano for winning a rain shortened race at New Hampshire. Name change On February 21, 2008, the Automobile Club of Southern California became the title sponsor of the raceway, renaming the official name Auto Club Speedway of Southern California. The naming rights deal will last for ten years and is worth an estimated $50 to $75 million. In addition to naming rights, the ACSC will also have use of the facility for road tests for Westways Magazine and other consumer tests. The money will be used for capital improvements.A new name for Speedway - DailyBulletin.com Usage in television shows, commercials and major film The facility is often used for filming television shows, commercials, and films. In 2000, portions of Charlie's Angels were filmed at the speedway, and in 2004, portions of Herbie: Fully Loaded were filmed there. In 2007, The Bucket List saw Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman drive a vintage Shelby Mustang and Dodge Challenger around the speedway. References External links * Auto Club Speedway Official Site * California Speedway Page on NASCAR.com * GNEXTINC.com: California Speedway Page - Local area information, track specs, mapping, news and more. * Jayski's California Speedway Page - Current and Past California Speedway News * Trackpedia guide to driving this track * Caliifornia Speedway Page on Ballparks by Munsey & Suppes * Super High Resolution image from Windows Live Local }} de:Auto Club Speedway es:California Speedway fr:Auto Club Speedway it:California Speedway nl:Auto Club Speedway ja:オートクラブ・スピードウェイ pt:Auto Club Speedway sv:California Speedway Category:Champ Car race tracks Category:Indy Racing League tracks Category:NASCAR tracks Category:International Race of Champions tracks Category:Sports venues in Los Angeles, California Category:NHRA Division 7 drag racing venues Category:Auto Club Speedway Category:NASCAR races at the Auto Club Speedway Category:NASCAR races at the Auto Club Speedway Category:Fontana, California